Gratitude for leadership of former Executive Director, Colonel Pratt

Peace Center board chair Darian Wyatt shares words of appreciation for former Executive Director Colonel Pratt (at right) as board member Jennifer Garvin-Sanchez listens.

Peace Center board and community members gathered August 8th to celebrate and share appreciation for the leadership of former Peace Center Executive Director Colonel Pratt. Board Chair Darian Wyatt commended Colonel for his spirit of collaboration and dedication to the mission and recalled several powerful and informative events during his time as executive director like a gun violence forum in March 2023 that “people still talk to me about.”

“From the moment you were brought on board, you’ve been dedicated to RPEC and working towards its regrowth” Wyatt told Pratt in expressing gratitude for his leadership from the fall of 2022 until July 2024.

A trainer for the Peace Center in years past who earned a masters degree in conflict studies from George Mason University, Pratt took up a part-time role as executive director in late 2022. In 2023 an $18,000 grant from a generous donor allowed the position to be expanded to full-time through June 2024. Donations from other sources were not sufficient to support a continued full-time role past July and Pratt shared with the board his intent to seek a full-time position elsewhere. In order to continue the work of the Peace Center in keeping with available resources, the board decided to return the organization to a volunteer-based model starting August 1, 2024 and began meeting weekly to take up the core tasks of programming, communications and fundraising. Anyone wanting to join the work of the Peace Center as a volunteer or board member is encouraged to send an e-mail to rpec@rpec.org.